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deleted6669
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I guess when I read official reports like this it leaves me scratching my head. Most of what I read on this forum (regarding NPs) is how incompetent they are, how they put their patients at risk, etc. etc. It seems like reports like this indicate the opposite, or at least that hospitals are willing to take huge risks by hiring a large amount of these "incompetent" providers. If NPs are so terrible (and PAs are such a superior alternative) how comes that is not reflected at all by hiring practices? Shouldn't the market "choose" the PA if they are so superior? Why aren't there lawsuits sprouting up left and right against NPs (especially in ind. practice states)? Are people on this forum just really out of touch with what actually goes on? I also found it interesting that a higher percentage of total NPs work in hospitals than of PAs. I always thought if you wanted to work in a hospital then a PA degree would be preferable.
Here we go...
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deleted6669
there are around twice as many practicing np's as pa's, although many who have graduated from np programs still work as rn's.
if you look at the numbers of pa's vs np's in specialties like em/ortho/surg/critical care/hospitalist you will see more pa's in these roles. if you look at psych/women's health/peds/nicu you will see more np's in those roles. part of the decision of which program to pursue must be what field you want to practice in. for the most part hospital based specialties other than those I listed for np's above will be filled by pa's as most pa's have stronger hospital based/specialty training than most np's by a factor of at least 2:1 in total hrs and sometimes as much as 6:1 as a typical pa program has 2000-3000 clinical hrs and a typical np program has 500-800 hrs.
if you look at the numbers of pa's vs np's in specialties like em/ortho/surg/critical care/hospitalist you will see more pa's in these roles. if you look at psych/women's health/peds/nicu you will see more np's in those roles. part of the decision of which program to pursue must be what field you want to practice in. for the most part hospital based specialties other than those I listed for np's above will be filled by pa's as most pa's have stronger hospital based/specialty training than most np's by a factor of at least 2:1 in total hrs and sometimes as much as 6:1 as a typical pa program has 2000-3000 clinical hrs and a typical np program has 500-800 hrs.
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deleted6669
congrats. I didn't say np's were incompetent. I just said pa's tend to practice more in some fields and np's in others. it's due to a difference in training and that's fine. if I wanted to do ob with all my heart and soul I would have become a nurse midwife but I wanted to do em so pa made much more sense.
I have a world of respect for you and the work you do zen. underserved psych is a tough field to be in and I for one am glad you are filling the void.
Oh, I know. Just my self-deprecating humor!
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Hey emedpa, I appreciate the response. I understand that there are far more NPs than PAs. I guess there is just a lot of hyperbole on these forums that doesn't really reflect actual hiring practices or the real world. Anyway, I am in total agreement that PA makes more sense over NP (and vice versa) depending on your goals. I'm planning on going into psych, so I believe NP will be the superior choice for me. I also understand about the clinical hours as well. Doesn't that have to do with the fact that PAs can switch specialties and NPs can't? So PAs need all those hours to get properly trained in each area, while NPs are only trained one specialty at a time and must go back to school (and get more clinical hours) if they want to switch? Either way, I think the future is bright for both careers.
